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Children from unwanted pregnancies in Prague, Czech Republic revisited at age thirty
L Kubicka1, Z Matĕjcek, H P David
1Prague Psychiatric Center, Czech Republic.
Insights
Young adults born of unwanted pregnancies (UP) show less favorable psychosocial development than accepted pregnancies (AP) controls. UP females specifically experience more emotional disturbance later in life.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- The Prague Study investigates long-term outcomes for individuals conceived under different circumstances.
- Previous waves indicated psychosocial differences between those born of unwanted pregnancies (UP) and accepted pregnancies (AP).
Purpose of the Study:
- To report on the fourth wave of the Prague Study, examining young adults at age 30.
- To assess the long-term psychosocial development and potential gender-specific effects of unwanted pregnancies.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study following subjects born of unwanted pregnancies (UP) and matched controls born of accepted pregnancies (AP).
- Examination of 190 UP subjects and their pair-matched AP controls at age 30.
- Inclusion of siblings of both UP and AP subjects for comparative analysis.
Main Results:
- UP subjects continue to exhibit less favorable psychosocial development compared to AP controls, though the gap has narrowed.
- Siblings of UP subjects share some of the less favorable characteristics observed in the UP group.
- A gender-specific late effect emerged: UP females reported higher emotional disturbance than AP females, a difference not seen in siblings.
Conclusions:
- Unwanted pregnancy is associated with persistent, though narrowing, psychosocial disadvantages into adulthood.
- Family environment plays a role, as siblings of UP subjects show some shared characteristics.
- Emotional disturbance in adulthood is a specific, gendered late consequence for females born of unwanted pregnancies.
Abstract:
The results of the fourth wave of the Prague Study of subjects born of unwanted pregnancies (UP) are reported. Of these young adults, 190 were examined at age 30 together with pair-matched control subjects born of accepted pregnancies (AP). Siblings of both UP and AP subjects were also examined. As in the previous data waves the UP subjects manifest less favorable psychosocial development on average than their AP controls, although the differences have narrowed. In some respects the siblings of the UP subjects share the latter's less favorable characteristics. However, there is a gender specific nonshared late effect of unwanted pregnancy: the UP females are more frequently emotionally disturbed than their AP female controls, whereas no such difference occurs between the female siblings of the UP and AP subjects.
